She had no desire to discuss battle plans with the others, even though she was quite a talented strategist. Orchestrating an attack of this magnitude was another contingency of her banishment. No power, no armies, no titles, and no name. She still wondered if her mother would keep her promise should she ever set foot on her lands again, or worse...her father. It had been so long since she was banished it was starting to get harder and harder to remember what either of them looked like. She could've passed them over her years of wandering and not even realized it, even if it was highly doubtful. There was more of a chance of her crossing paths with her half-siblings. An older half-brother and a younger half-brother, both of whom were legitimate heirs while she was, unfortunately, a bastard and a woman. Maybe her father would have claimed her if she were born a boy. Aestas made the attempt to focus back on her meal and less on her family, but when Hilde was about to mess with what looked like a dislocated shoulder, she was quick to abandon her meal.
One thing she knew about Saxons was their knowledge about the body and medicine was terrible under the watchful gaze of their god. Her own people had a variety of healing rituals and remedies, and Danes did quite well with a variety of herbs, but Saxons? A simple poultice could become a death sentence. On her many wandering travels, Aestas came across healers from faraway places named Kmt and The Middle Kingdom when she accidentally found herself at the foot of the Mediterranean Sea. They had healing methods that she had first thought were brutal blood magic. They captured her curiosity for nearly an entire season as she learned everything she could from the healers. She attributed the fact she hadn't died on numerous occasions to what the men and women had taught her; one such skill was fixing dislocated joints with minimal amounts of pain and damage.
"So now she's a healer?" Hilde questioned as she was practically shoved out of the way.
Uhtred watched as she gently took his arm and guided it into an odd position that caused him to wince, even though the pain was bearable under her uncharacteristically gentle hand. A soft rhythmic hum drifted from her lips as she examined the bruising. Before he could question what she was doing, Aestas put the joint back into place with a soft pop before tucking his arm to his chest. Uhtred waited for the usual snap of blinding agony that came with such an injury, but all he felt was a dull ache. "Apparently, she is." he looked to Finan for any explanation, but he was left just as stunned as the rest of them as she calmly made a sling from one of the bandages Hilde brought over.
"It heals best if you don't use the arm for a couple of days, but I suppose a night is better than nothing," Aestas spoke quietly so only Uhtred and Hilde could hear her.
Hilde watched as Aestas secured Uhtred's arm, making a mental note to ask her to teach her the same technique so she could use it herself in the future. She may be a warrior now, but in time Hilde will end up laying down the sword while the others will end up dying by it. A fate it would seem that had been forced upon Aestas at a young age and one she adapted to fit her own wants and needs. Her childhood self would've been so envious of Aestas. A hard life lived but filled with so much unburdened freedom was its own kind of heaven. Even with all the killing, it made her wonder if god looked kindly upon her for becoming more akin to nature than man. If Hilde had a say in gifting her a name, she would have suggested Eve. Believing in no god but trusting and seeing the good and evil in man. "You'll have to show me that technique for when this inevitably happens again." Hilde requested before mirroring the smile Aestas had given her as she sat back down.
"I don't have time to wait for the wounded," Ragnar teased as Uhtred tugged his shirt back into place while Aestas returned to her meal.
"You won't have to wait for the wounded." Uhtred responded with an eye roll since his shoulder already felt better due to Aestas's help, only to let out a sarcastic laugh when Brida suggested they kill him.
